11-29-14. Job 38:31-41. Our Awesome, Amazing and Yet Personal God – my devotional

Job 38:31-41                                                                                           Kevin E. Jesmer

Key verse 38:33                                                                                      11-29-14

“Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?”

Part 1: God Is An Amazing Creator and Engineer Who Reaches Out To Us (31-35)

God is fantastic Creator and Engineer. He has proven this in the universe. Look at Job 38: 31-35, “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? 32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? 33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? 34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? 35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?” (NIV)

In the King James Version of the Bible, Job 38:1-3 reads, “31 Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? 32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? 33 Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?”

Let’s think about the influence of these Pleiades. I like the phrase, “The sweet influences of the Pleiades.” (KJV) The mention of these stars in Job, the oldest book in the world, speaks of the influence of thee stars as a matter everyday knowledge. They call them sweet. It is like engineers describing the smooth workings of complex machinery. Young people, when they are impressed by something that appears complex often say, “Sweet”. A referral to the Pleiades is an appeal to the common knowledge at the time. Ancient Greeks called these stars the “seven stars”. Their appearance in the night sky indicated favorable times for voyages at sea. Mariners set out for their long voyages. The Chaldean name means “pivot” as astronomers discovered that the largest of these stars formed a pivot around which the solar system revolves. Our sun is 3,000 billion miles away from the Pleiades. It has been concluded that the arm of this pivot, is flinging our universe, including the earth, at a speed of 150 million miles a year in an orbit so large that one revolution of the arm takes thousands of years to make. Yet it is all accomplished with such precise regularity, smoother than a Swiss clock. Sweet! “Orion” is the constellation commonly known as the “Giant”. The space in the sword of the Giant is estimated to be two trillion, two hundred billion times larger than the sun. Sweet! “Mazzaroth” mean the twelve signs of the zodiac. All of this is accomplished and maintained by the God of the Bible, who is an amazing engineer. He is the one who orchestrates such “sweet” greatness…..

In all of this, God is telling Job and his friends, that he has all the forces of nature, including the whole universe, at his command. The consolations are all under God’s control. Only God can unleash or restrain them the forces of nature at will. No one completely understands such common occurrences as rain or snow, and no one can command them. Only God who created them has that power. God’s point was that if Job (nor any person) could not explained such common events in nature, how could he possibly explain or question God? Our Creator’s nature is beyond our grasp. Yet, this immense and glorious God chose to come into our world and make his presence known.

Jesus is this great God. John 1:1-3 reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” The Book of Hebrews tells of Jesus. Hebrews 1:1-3 reads, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (NIV) Jesus is God and yet he humbled himself to break forth into this world to be our Savior. He died on the cross to bring us forgiveness and grace, the purification of sins. He sat down in the majesty in heaven and he will bring us there to be with him.  From the Majesty in heaven we can spend all of eternity, observing the wonders of the Universe and of Christ, the engineer of the universe.  I can’t wait.

Part 2: God Provides. We Can trust Him.  (36-41)

Verses 36-41, “36 Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding? 37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens 38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? 39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions 40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? 41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?” (NIV)

God gives animals wisdom. Verse 36 reads, “Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding?”  If God gives the animals wisdom, then he can give Job wisdom to interpret the meaning of his suffering and anguish. He could also given Job the wisdom to properly understand God character and plan. We can trust the Lord to provide the wisdom to understand. Psalm 119:125 reads, “I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.”  (NIV)

God cares about everything, including every human being that has ever lived. Job, in his suffering, may have felt that he was one of the forgotten ones. He may have felt that his life and the lives of his family members were like a mist, here one minute and gone the next, like tiny clouds in windswept sky. But this is not true. Look at Job 38:37, “Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens”, All of the clouds, coming and going, some moving very quickly, are all numbered by the Lord. Even the hairs on our head are numbered. God gives individual care to every piece of his creation. This means to every suffering person, like Job. Does God care about me and my family members? Yes he does. Does he care about every Native person in the far flung, frozen, remote communities in NW Ontario? Yes he does. We are all individually loved by God. God knows and cares. We can trust this fact and find rest in his great, individualized love.

Our God is the provider. God provides for all his creatures, both those creatures are very capable hunters and those who are struggling for lack of food. Look at Job 38:39-41, “39 Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions 40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?”  God provides for all, from the successful hunters and even the most vulnerable of creation. If he does this for them how much more will he care for us, “Oh you of little faith.” (Matt 6:30)

Job has tasted both aspects of life of the hunting and gathering life. He had been like a successful lion, competing and “winning” in the ancient economy. He was a rich, ranch owner with many servants and fruitful family. He was like a hunting lioness. (39) But even with all his accomplishments, it was not him, but God, providing the victories in life and all the abundant resources. Those who are very successful “hunters” in our society, the ones who can make a lot of money and have an abundance of material things, God is providing for them. They need to be humble and thankful and realize that it not just their own, superior, human efforts that makes them survivors. It is God’s provision and grace to them and thank God.

Later, all of Job’s laurels were stripped away. He was left with nothing, not his riches, nor family nor his health. He never even had encouraging friends around him. He was like a raven, crying out to God and wandering about for lack of food. (41) But God also provides for the raven and it’s young. Those who are struggling to survive in this world, God provides for them also. He may not give them an abundance, but he gives them what they need. He does not always give us what we want, but he gives us what we need. God provides. We can trust his provision. God sees, cares and provides. Ebenezer! Which means, “Thus far the Lord has provided.”

In regards to Job, what could he want that the Lord is able to provide? Job wants forgiveness and grace. He wants to be healed of his sickness. He wants his life restored. He wants his family back. He wants to be set free from pain and the fear of death. He wants freedom from the bad memories of the past. He wants to set free from the remorse caused by past sins. He wants true hope, healing and strength to move forward with his life. He wants answers, as to why he was suffering so much. He wants the peace of God and eternal life with the Lord in the Kingdom of God. God can and is willing to provide these things according to his will…in his way and in his time. Some things may be provided for in heaven. But God cares about our situation. He wants to provide and he can provide for his is the Creator and the Sovereign ruler of the universe. Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Prayer: “Lord, you are the God who created and controls for the vast universe. Yet, you care for the individual person. Thank you for your grace and love. Thank you for caring about me and providing all things. Help me to glorify you in all the earth.”

One Word:  Our great and Awesome God does care about us!